As the warm waters of the Tennessee River meet the cool night air, a mist invariably forms. When the sun’s rays first glance through that mist, a prism of golds scatter across the water, giving the “Arkansas Traveler” a glowing send-off on her first full day of the loop. We pulled up the anchor and headed west as the sun rose.

Two Rocks Anchorage, Tennessee River

We turned south into Yellow Creek which feeds into the Tennessee River and encountered our first of many tows on the trip, “Green Wave.” Yellow Creek is the connection to the Tombigbee River via “the cut.” The cut is a dividing canal which was dug during the 1980s and provides a link between the Mississippi River watershed and the Mobile River watershed. This connection has greatly improved commercial traffic within the country and provided untold amounts of fun for recreational boaters. The idea was first broached by the French in the 1700s prior to the Louisiana Purchase.

"Green Wave" on Yellow Creek

The cut connecting two great watersheds

Shortly after 2:00 p.m. we arrived at Bay Springs Lake, Mississippi, and anchored deep within the Natchez Trace Recreational Area. This is a quiet anchorage with only jumping fish and birds for company. It is without a doubt my favorite anchorage thus far though I’m sure that there will be many more which are just as enchanting. We swam (okay, one of us did; it’s cold in late October), rested, ate, and took a few dinghy rides before night set in.Bob enjoying late afternoon on the flybridge“Arkansas Traveler” at anchor in Bay Springs Lake, MississippiBay Springs Lake, where the trees eat the moon on a regular basis

One Response to Tennessee River to Bay Springs Lake; October 21

Sat down to look up material on famous research questions on Macbeth, the better to advance the intellectual curiosity of my students with and with which to teach research,– thought better of it, and chose instead to drift away to the blog.

Loved the pics of the mist.

News: Got caught up in brinksmanship with LM, who is going to Peru with his wife to go horseback riding. He said he was going to the land of cuy. I, of course, took the bait and asked. He, in turn, sent a picture of how it is served as a dish. I sent a website on where to adopt the furry, cute things here in the states. He said he’d adopt many and take them to Peru with him (to sell to restauranteurs, I’m sure.) I cannot top him. Short of sending a you tube special on how the things are rendered into the things on plates, I can only say I was bested again.

Look up cuy if you’re bored, but brace yourself.

Leaving you now with a cliff hanger and looking forward to more of your updates, I am truly
a fan in Fayetteville–KN